Welcome to Heavenly Host
by JuggernautTheDancingHobo
Summary: Sachiko's already bored with the nine people she recently dragged into the school. She decides to drag a few more... unique people in to change it up a bit. How will they interact with the other characters, how much will they change the other victim's fates?
1. Prologue

Ryan once again approached his friend right outside of the school. The sun barely getting through the snow clouds, making it oddly dim for being about 3:20 PM. His friend Austin stood there, nearly knee deep in snow. Wearing a black zip up jacket. Shaking snow out of his hair, seeing his friend Ryan coming out of the school.

"Hey man, took you long enough, I'm freezing my ass off out here..." Austin joked, hitting his friend lightly on his arm.

"I forgot my jacket in the gym, no way in hell I'm walking all the way without my jacket." Ryan replied. He was wearing his blue pull over sweatshirt, he wore it pretty much all the time, it was kinda a symbol for him among the school. Both of the freshman wore jeans, they started trudging through the snow. It was unplowed, but going through this part was faster than following the plowed sidewalk.

I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. The two main characters in this story are Austin Rayman, and Ryan Brooklyn. They both live in a small town in northern Michigan.  
It was their freshman year, the two of them were both 14, with Austin about to turn 15. The two of them were... Unpopular among the guys in their school, but when it came to the girls... They were... Rather popular.

Austin was Mexican, his dark skin, black hair, brown eyes, and skinny body complemented his jokester personality quite well. He was sarcastic, and funny. Yet he had his downsides, he was awfully awkward when it came to girls. Unable to talk normally to them.

Ryan was white, spending most of his time inside, with light brown hair, blue yes, and skinny body fitted him quite well, he was quiet most of the time, and just outright avoided talking to anyone besides Austin. He was smart, and almost always aced his tests, and homework, and usually helped Austin on his, ending up with his friend getting good grades too.

But they both had a... rather weird secret. They both LOVED Anime, Japanese animation, manga, everything like that. It was quite unusual for that part of Michigan, so they kept it a secret. Very recently though, they both got very interested in a certain Japanese game series. It was called Corpse Party. Within a month, the two played all of the games, understood the story down to every detail. They even watched the crappy anime that didn't even follow the story.

"Ey, Ryan, your house or mine?" Austin asked. The two boys were friends for such a long time, that both of their families accepted each other into their houses at any time. They were pretty much brothers at this point.

"Well yesterday was mine... Soo..." Ryan spoke quietly. The two walked into the alley between the school buildings, cutting straight into the town, instead of having to walk the long way around. Ryan shook the snow out of his hair for the third time in about two minutes, getting tired of it, he flipped his blue sweatshirt's hoodie up.

"Yeah, I thought so..." Austin laughed, "We can see if they finally released the next chapter of Corpse Party: Blood Covered in English!"

"Fuck yeah..." Ryan said, trailing off.

"Let's go, man." Austin spoke, they finally got back onto the plowed path, so they could move a bit faster. They started jogging towards Austin's house, passing by leafless trees, and houses of other citizens of their small town.

"HEY GUYS!" They heard a female voice from behind them. The two stopped, turning to see a girl from 8th grade, the class below them. Maria Jannette. She was the only girl that the two accepted into their friendship, and the only girl to be as much into Anime as the two were. Though it was quite awkward when there were some... perverted scenes in one of them.

Maria was a nerdy girl, her body was... nice... To say the least, a larger than average bust for a 14 year old, but it wasn't weird to say that, of course, both Austin, and Ryan themselves were 14. She had black hair that was almost always tied into a pony tail. She wore glasses, and a small, cleavage revealing jacket, she didn't really understand that all of the guys in their grade, and the grade below were always staring at her. She of course didn't do it on purpose, as the only time she caught someone staring, she was so embarrassed that she ran out of the room.

She shook snow out of her hair as she ran towards the two, nearly tripping a few times. "Oh hey, Maria, didn't know you were going to be tagging along today..." Ryan said quietly as she got to the two.

"I'll only be able to stay for a few hours, but that's enough to keep me happy!" She said seductively. She flirted with the two constantly, only because she knew it got to them,  
really badly. The two turned away from her, Austin whistling in an awkward way. Ryan humming the tune of the opening of 'Seven Nation Army', one of the songs that he had recently gotten stuck in his head.

"Aww... Come on, let's go..." She laughed, she was too... perverted for her own good, the two men usually compared her to Seiko from Corpse Party. The two guys nodded,  
embarrassed, and began jogging slowly again, this time followed by Maria. Her black hair swaying in the wind. "Whose house?" She quickly asked, already panting from the jog. Despite looking... awfully beautiful, she was... Unathletic. It was kinda funny.

"Mine!" Austin shouted back, still running at his regular speed.

Sachiko had only recently brought in nine souls into Heavenly Host. Seiko, Morishige, Ms. Yui, Naomi, Mayu, Ayumi, Yoshiki, Satoshi and Yuka. Although she already felt hungry again. She was getting greedy again, she didn't care though. She wanted more souls to feed the FIRE.

The trio sat on the couch crammed in Austin's small room. Ryan awkwardly crammed between Austin and Maria, who, despite it being totally an inappropriate situation for it,  
kept running a hand up his leg. For Ryan, it was the best, and most annoying point of his life. Ever. How times have changed. 20 years ago, 14 year old girls were more innocent than nine year old girls now, but know... You see the point... Austin had his laptop hooked up to the TV on the wall, he went onto an unpopular, anime site, and clicked on a random series they had yet to finish.

Sachiko quickly looked into several dimensions, looking for more victims, it usually took doing the charm, and failing to end up in Heavenly Host, but she had been saving up quite a bit of energy, she wanted to just take someone. Some unsuspecting innocents. She briefly looked into one dimension, before switching to another, then another, then another. She stopped on one that caught her eye, as the moment she switched to it, she saw three people, Obviously from the U.S. One white male, one white female, one Mexican male. Perfect... She cracked her knuckles, and going into a stance. She spoke a few Japanese words inside of her head. Preforming a ritual, she felt her veins pulsing, a light glow appearing around her. She then felt herself force the energy through the portal, it hitting the ground right in front of the trio.  
_

Ryan's stomach suddenly dropped, what was this feeling? Was he having a panic attack due to the attractive young teen gripping his leg right now? He sighed, trying his best to focus on the entertainment. But he couldn't get rid of the feeling. He felt as though he could throw up, and as he looked around, he noted that the others could probably feel it too. Austin had a sickly look on his face, and Maria was holding her stomach, her head shrouded in shadow as she hung her head low.

He suddenly felt it getting worse, and by the sound of Maria's squeel, and Austin's groan, they felt it too. Ryan sat silently. Staring at the screen as the pain in his stomach got worse, and worse... until... he blacked out... The last thing he saw was Maria and Austin next to him, both already passed out, before letting his voice crack, and a small high pitched whimper escape his body. He was thankful that the two people next to him were already out cold. He gulped, loosing all forms of life in his body, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He managed to get out a small, cut off sentence before going completely black.

"The... Fuck?" He asked, before going limp


	2. Ryan's Beginning

Ryan felt his body slowly regain function. His senses were returning, yet his eye-lids felt too heavy to lift. He could hear a constant drip... Drip drop, drip drop, and the smell in the air smelled like a forest right after a rain. Like damp wood. Rotting furnature. He grunted, realizing that he wasn't lying on a hospital bed as he might have imagined. He slowly opened his eyes, greeted by a dark room. Definately not a hospital...

He quickly got up to his feet, panicking. He hadn't realized he was still groggy until he was on both of his feet, having to lean against a nearby wall to not fall over. He looked around. The room he was in was clearly a class of some sort. It took him a moment to realize that he was in a class room. Chalk board, desks, and everything else included. He noted the similarities to the game Corpse Party, the class looking almost exactly like what it would have looked like in the game.

Almost too similar...

It hit him like a ton of bricks, a realization that almost made his heart stop. Everything around him... Was ANIMATED. It looked as though it had been drawn, he mentally exploded, his brain having no rational explanation for what was going on. He gulped, raising a hand to his vision. In the dim light he could see his pale white hand, also animated.  
Not only was the scenery animated, he was too! This couldn't be happening... He tried his best to rationalize it, but couldn't come up with any reasonable way to explain what was happening.

He moved his hand around, wiggling each finger, watching them with interest and confusion. They were animated all right, no doubt. A series of explanations flashed through his head, the one that made the most sense was him being in a very vivid coma dream. He hoped that he was right in thinking that this wasn't real, he didn't want to accept it as reality. Denial.

Ryan gulped, even though he was sure this was just a dream, this felt... So real... From the scent of moist wood, to the noises coming from beyond the door of the class. He noted the ghostly sounds echoing through the building. He sat, frozen in fear as he listened to the unnatural sounds. He listened intently, until it suddenly cut out, the only thing he could hear was his shaky breathing.

A shrill scream pierced the air, it seemed to be a young girl's voice. It shook Ryan to the core, his blue sweatshirt starting to feel heavy under the thick air. He didn't know whether or not this was real, and he knew that this was an impossible situation, but for some reason it was happening, real or not, he had to investigate the scream.

He gulped, walking slowly towards the door, small footsteps echoed through the hall, muffled by the door. He pushed the door open, revealing more rotted wood, decaying building structure. It truly DID look like Heavenly Host. The footsteps were louder than ever, and as Ryan turned to see what it was he saw a smaller girl, inches away from him, she was still running, and she didn't seem to have seen him step out into the hallway.

She ran into him, a jolt of pain suddenly shocking through him. The type of pain you DON'T feel in a dream. It made Ryan further question whether or not this could be reality. He couldn't accept it as truth, but as of right now, he had to just deal with the situation. He got knocked back slightly, almost falling over, the girl DID fall over though. He looked at her, as she lay flat on the floor, rubbing her head.

She wore a beige shirt, and skirt, a tie hanging loosely off to the side, the girl had short brown hair, a silver hair piece glinting in her hair. She slowly opened her eyes, revealing beautiful purple eyes. This girl... Was from... The game! She was one of Nana's friends, if Ryan remembered correctly. Nari Amatoya. She saw him standing over her, quickling pushing herself up, she looked panicked.

She resisted the urge to run away from the strange man she had just collided with. Clearing her throught nervously. "...Hi..." She said, quietly. Breaking the silence. She kept looking over her shoulder, she had obviously been running from something that wasn't there anymore. She awaited an answer from Ryan.

"Er... Hi?" He said back. He stopped for a second, the game was in Japanese, so why did Nari just speak English? This was a dream, right? This HAD to be a dream, it was impossible! He decided that since his brain didn't know Japanese, they couldn't speak it. That was, if this could still be a dream. It was all too real...

A loud bang echoed through the hall, Ryan looked over Nari's shoulder, a door at the end of the hall had just been kicked open. The door swinging weakly, barely hanging onto it's hinges. Nari almost squeeled, which was strange, as in the game, she was always the strong one out of the trio of girls she was in. Well, if he was right, and this was just a dream, then it should be normal for the characters to seem... Off.

Out stepped a large man... The zombie-like hammer wielding giant. Ryan couldn't remember the name of him, but he knew that it was something like Yoshiki's name. Nari panicked, pushing him.

"GO! RUN!" She screamed, almost tripping over Ryan as she started to run. Ryan looked back at the monster, seeing him start to slightly run towards him, stumbling as if it was wounded. He knew it was nothing but a dream, but... He didn't want to see where getting caught would lead. The pain... The pain from getting hit by Nari was real! He guessed that the whole 'no pain in dreams' thing was just a myth, though maybe it didn't apply to coma dreams, as he guessed that he must've passed out from the pain on the couch.

He turned, seeing Nari quickly turn the corner, he gulped, lunging forward, sprinting down the hall, hearing heavy footsteps getting further behind him. He turned the corner, passing several classrooms, almost falling over in the dim light. He saw Nari peaking out of a room, she had waited for him, he was thankful. She waved for him to come in, opening the door further.

Ryan slipped in, Nari quietly shutting the door behind them. In the darkness, the only light seemed to be glinting off of her eyes. She looked up at Ryan, expecting him to be able to handle the situation. Truth be told, even though he started off SURE that this was a dream, that hope was beginning to die out, he was mentally telling himself to wake up, but he was starting to realize that it wouldn't happen. Somehow, in some... impossible way this WAS real, but... But he couldn't accept that as reality, he NEEDED to wake up, wake up RIGHT NOW.

Nari seemed to be waiting for Ryan to say something, anything, but he seemed just as disturbed, and panicked as she felt. She gulped, looking around in the darkness. The loud footsteps pounded down the hallway. Everything went quiet as they reached a door nearby. A loud crash suddenly echoed, making Nari jump, and Ryan quietly swear to himself.

He... HE'S KICKING IN DOORS! The monster walked slowly through the class room next to the one that Nari and Ryan were in. Nari looked to Ryan, unsure of what to do. Ryan looked around, looking for anything to help them. He shivered, the cold in the room piercing through his thick blue sweatshirt. He looked over to Nari once more, her scared eyes, glinting in the dim light.

He gulped, not knowing what to do. "Wake up!" He said quietly to himself. "Wake up, WAKE UP." Nari angrily hit him in the arm, surprisingly it kinda hurt.

"You're not dreaming IDIOT!" She hissed, "Now HELP US." She demanded angrily. Ryan understood, she was most likely just as scared as him, her words hit him right in the face, just like a bag of sand. You're. Not. Dreaming. Those words echoed through his mind. Could it be? No, his mind protested, no it couldn't be happening. He felt like he could cry, but he held his emotions in, hearing the monster kick in one more door.

This time it was the room across from them. They could hear the monster step around in the room before coming back out. He walked towards them, obviously standing right outside the door. Ryan reacted quickly, ushering Nari under the teacher's desk, there wasn't a lot of room under it, but Ryan stuffed himself in there with her anyways.

Nari's entire body was pressed against Ryan, their faces only millimeters apart, her warm breath constantly brushing against his face. It was a nice change to the cold, brisk air that had been pressing against his face this entire time. Nari was obviously uncomfortable, her... Chest pressing tightly against his. It wasn't very comfortable for him either.

The monster kicked open the door, the stale, still air in the room being mixed up by the door flying open. Nari suddenly tensed up, she no longer cared about being in this rather... Embarrassing situation, she pressed her face into Ryan's shoulder, masking a whimper. He felt sorry for the girl, silently rubbing her back as she hugged him closer. The hammer man walked around the room, the floor boards creaking as he walked around, searching for the two.

Nari had her arms tightly wrapped around Ryan, he was extremely uncomfortable, but she didn't care, she was scared beyond belief. She just wanted to feel as though she wasn't alone. The steps pounded through the room, and at one point, they were just feet away. Nari's whimpers were muffled by Ryan. Who was doing his best to muffle his own shaky breathing.

The steps got further away, leaving the room, and going on to the next one over, kicking it open, and checking it just like he did to the others. Nari wouldn't let go for quite some time, even when the monster left the hallway, moving on to a completely different one to check, she was still gripping him tightly. The monster was gone, no where to be heard.

"... Miss? H- Hey..." Ryan let out, avoiding using Nari's name. "Miss?" She opened her eyes, a single tear trailing down her soft cheek. Her purple eyes gleaming in the dim light. Ryan could admit that she looked quite cute, but now wasn't the time for that, dream or not.

"Oh, um... Sorry." She said, letting go, and pushing herself out from under the desk. "I'm... Okay... I'm good, are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Ryan answered, climbing out from under the desk. He stood there for a moment, light leaking into the room from the hallway, the door now lying on the ground near the doorway. He stared at Nari for a moment. If he remembered correctly, she was 13 in the game, so she was only a year younger than him. Yet she was about 5'4, being a solid 4 inches shorter than Ryan.

"I'm... Amatoya Nari, but... But I guess you should just call me Nari... It's... faster you know?" She said, she looked embarrassed. She sniffled, wiping the single tear off of her face.

"I'm... Ryan Brooklyn..." He said, sparking a bit of interest in Nari's face.

"That's a western name!" Nari expressed, "Yet you speak perfect Japanese, how'd you learn a second language so well, so early?"

These words shocked Ryan, he wasn't speaking Japanese!

"What?" He expressed. "I'm speaking English."

"No you're not." Nari said, a confused look suddenly on her face. "We're both speaking Japanese!"

"To me, we're both speaking English." Ryan said quietly. "I guess... Logic doesn't really... apply here."

"Wow... I guess so..." Nari said, looking around awkwardly. "I... Kinda need your help though."

"What do you need Nari?" Ryan kept checking over his shoulder, looking at the doorway.

"I was just seperated from my friends, Nana and Chihiya, they ran one way, I ran the opposite, they need us. We have to find them Brooklyn!"

"Er... Ok, and... Just call me Ryan, it's my first name after all." He looked around, he always was the paranoid one.

"Thank you Ryan! It means a lot to me that you're so willing to help us out!" She said, smiling warmly. "I'm a 7th grader, from Musashigawa Girls' Middle School, in Japan, I just turned 13."

"I'm... A 9th grader from Michigan in the U.S. I'm 14, but I'm going to turn 15 in about two months." Ryan answered, though he knew most of this from the game, it was still interesting to share info with her, though he couldn't indulge that much into it, he had to help find Nana and Chihaya, dream or not.

"We should get going..." Nari said, after a few moments of thinking. She was trusting this... Foriegn teenager that's almost a solid two years older than her.

On the other hand, Ryan was deep in thought about the situation. This was fake... Right? Not real. It couldn't be... But... The anime look of everything! Not only was the girl right in front of him styled like an anime, everything else INCLUDING HIM was styled like an anime too. He had to find out what was going on, was he on acid or some shit?  
He didn't want to accept this as reality. No, he COULDN'T accept this as reality, his mind couldn't comprehend it, the human race was not ready for this. Let alone him.

He stopped for a moment, thinking. Were Austin and Maria also there? If they were, they were most likely in trouble, he needed to find them. He needed to get out. He stopped, how WOULD they get out? They needed the paper to do the ritual, but they didn't do the ritual to GET there... How could he do this?

He didn't know, but somehow, he would do it, he HAD to do it... That is... If this was real... Which it wasn't... Right?


	3. Reunion

Ryan looked back at the door. "We... We need to go back to where you and your friends were separated, if they're smart... Then they'll be there, searching for you."

"Okay..." A panicked Nari said, "Yeah, Nana, and Chihaya will probably be there." Ryan remembered, Nana was the girl in Book of Shadows, the girl that gets stuck with Yoshiki,  
Ayumi, and Mayu, and ends up getting her legs cut off, Chihaya was the childish spoiled girl. Though that was in Book of Shadows, so none of that ever happened in the story.

"Let's get started." Ryan said, starting carefully towards the door, Nari following him slowly, taking baby steps. He peered out of the door, checking for the hammer man. He was gone, down a different hallway. Ryan motioned for Nari to come, and made his way quietly towards the room where he had woken up in. He avoided a hole in the corner,  
quickly mentioning it to Nari to avoid it.

Ryan stopped, looking into the room where he had woken up. He wished that he would wake up already, though it was starting to get through to him that this was a serious situation. Though he didn't want to acknowledge it. Nari put a hand on Ryan's arm, obviously scared. She whimpered, pulling himself closer to him. Almost hiding behind him as he walked slowly down the hallway, to where she had come from when she ran into Ryan.

"Where did you get separated?" Ryan asked, looking down to the shorter girl, who was pressing herself against him. He wondered why she was trusting him so much, so early.

"Right up here, we walked out of that room, and he was right there..." She choked up just from the memory, she pointed as she said 'that room'. "They went that way." She pointed down an opposite hall.

"Okay..." Ryan said, he noticed her body heat, it was making him slightly uncomfortable, her being so close to him. She practically leaned on him. "I'll get your friends back,  
Nari..." He patted her head, Nari's face lit up a little, up until she realized what was going on, suddenly getting embarrassed. Pulling herself away from him a bit. Ryan couldn't be sure, but he was almost certain that she was blushing deeply.

"What were their names again?" Ryan knew their names, of course, but he didn't want to seem... Creepy.

"Nana... And Chihaya," She spoke quietly, drifting a bit closer to Ryan again. "Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm... A bit... Cold... Can I borrow your sweatshirt?" She was obviously embarrassed to ask, but Ryan could see why she would want to borrow his sweatshirt, the cold air was brisk, and piercing.

"Oh, uh, sure." Ryan quickly pulled off his pull-over sky blue sweatshirt. Handing it to Nari. Sure, it was now cold for him, but he was used to it, he was from Michigan, of course.

"Sorry... I know you're probably cold now..." Nari said, pulling the sweatshirt on. She looked quite cute in it, the sweatshirt was big enough on her, that it almost looked like a dress on her. Her skirt poking out of the bottom. She had the hood down, and the sleeves drooped down over her hands. She rolled the sleeves up to her elbows.

The rolled up sleeves revealing her arms, her... clear, beautiful skin almost glowing in the light.

"I'm fine Nari... Where I come from, It's way colder than this." He said, trying to relieve her guilt. The two walked further towards where they assumed her friends would be.

"Oh... Ok..." She expressed. She looked around, her eyes starting to adjust to the darkness. She looked scared, but oh so cute in Ryan's sweatshirt.

She admired Ryan, she felt as though she was a damsel in distress. He was doing everything for her, giving her his only sweatshirt, going out of his way to protect her, looking for her friends... She stared at him, his black T-Shirt almost blending in to the darkness. She didn't know him that much, but so far he seemed like her white knight, her prince.

Ryan kept checking over his shoulder, seeing Nari in his blue sweatshirt, shuffling along. A few times he caught her staring at him, only for her to quickly look away.

"NANA!? CHIHAYA?!" Ryan suddenly shouted, getting tired of just looking around. It startled Nari, making her step back. She was almost mad at him for scaring her, but she knew that he was just trying to help. "YOUR FRIEND NARI IS HERE WITH ME!" He shouted, knowing that if he didn't mention that he was with Nari, they'd not want to show themselves.

"N-No Nana! We don't know him!" A voice shouted, Ryan looked over to where it came from, seeing two girls emerging from a classroom. The first one, Nana, ran out, looking relieved that they had found Nari once more. The other, Chihaya was standing behind her, she obviously was against showing themselves to him, not noticing Nari hiding behind him.

"Where is she?" Nana demanded, prompting Ryan to step to the side, showing an excited Nari to the two. She ran forward, hugging Nana and Chihaya.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" Chihaya said happily, almost crying. Nana just sat silently, hugging Nari.

"I thought the same!" Nari said, choking on tears, she was obviously scared without them, and unbelievably happy to find that they were okay. Ryan sat back, smiling. He helped cause this. Back in his school he never really did anything for anyone, he avoided social encounters all together, that was, up until he met Austin, then Maria just kinda forced her way in there.

Now, he was contributing to the reunion of a group of friends, in a haunted school. It made him feel all fuzzy and warm on the inside, a nice contrast to the cold air of the school. He just stood there, watching this play out. He smiled weakly. He noticed that through the hug, Nari was looking at him with happy, thankful eyes. He just nodded to her, a small smile on his face.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Nari-chan" Chihaya said, pulling away. "Why... Are you wearing THAT?" She said, pointing weakly to the sweatshirt.

"I-It was cold!" Nari said, trying to waver any assumptions, her face almost glowing a deep red as she tried to hide herself from her friends.

"Yeah, sure Nari..." Nana laughed, looking over to Ryan. "It's his right?"

"Yeah..." An embarrassed Nari said quietly. "I... Borrowed it." Chihaya and Nana laughed quietly, and an embarrassed Nari just looked at the ground.

"Ah, it's okay Nari! We understand." Nana laughed. Nari looked up, trying to make the embarrassment go away by smiling weakly.

"Thank you, Nana, and Chihaya." She said, hugging each of them one more time. Ryan sat there awkwardly, not sure of what to do. He looked at the two friends, Nana who was just a tiny bit shorter than Nari, and had big blue eyes. She had a smaller... Figure than Nari, not meaning that in the 'Nari's fat' way, he meant that in the 'Nari's got huge breasts for a girl her age' way. Nana had short, light brown hair, with a white bow tie in it.

She wore the same beige school uniform as Nari wore under his sweatshirt, revealing her legs up to her thighs. Ryan had never really seen a girl in a skirt, since it was usually very cold where he came from, and when it wasn't cold, it was rainy, and very rarely sunny. So being around girls in such... Revealing skirts... Was hard for him to say the least. It was uncomfortable and awkward for him.

On the other hand, was Chihaya. She was the shortest of the three, with glowing turquoise eyes, and short, clean cut grey hair. She had an innocent tone to her. She kept looking over to Ryan, obviously uncomfortable with a stranger. She wore the same beige school uniform as the other two.

"So who's your 'friend' Nari?" Nana joked, putting air quotation marks around 'friend' obviously joking with the fact that she was wearing his sweatshirt. Nari's face got a bit red at that fact, before she quickly pulled the sweatshirt off. Giving it back to Ryan.

He awkwardly took it back, giving Nari a quick thank you, right after she had said the same thing. He pulled it back on, noting how warm it was from the previous user. He flipped the hood down, revealing his glowing blue eyes to the trio.

"This is... Ryan... Brooklyn, He's from the U.S. and I ju-" Nari was cut off.

"He's from the west? And he speaks Japanese at such an early age?" Nana expressed, impressed. It was kinda embarrassing to Ryan, since now he would have to reveal to Nana and Chihaya that he was in fact, not speaking Japanese at all.

"Actually no." He spoke up awkwardly. "Even though you hear me, and yourselves speaking Japanese, I myself, am speaking English, and for some reason, I hear you talking English, and you hear me talking Japanese."

"Oh..." Nana, slightly less impressed. "That's so cool! If only we had this type of stuff back in the real world! So many problems solved!" Ryan was almost relieved that she didn't have a bad first impression on him. But then he remembered, it doesn't matter whether or not they have a good impression on him, right? This is still fake, right? Right?

He was starting to lose that hope.

"What's it like where you're from, mister?" Chihiya asked, her voice much lighter than the other two, making her seem much, much younger. Ryan laughed.

"You don't have to call me 'mister', just call me Ryan." He said, a smile on his face. "And where I come from, it's pretty cold, usually, then it rains a lot the rest of the year, then there's that one or two months where it's just sunshine. Perfection."

"That sounds nice... My name's Yamase Chihiya, but everyone here just calls me Chihaya, and I don't want to make you feel alone!" She said happily. She was starting to warm up to him.

"My name's Ogasawara Nana, but it's much easier to call me Nana, Ryan, how'd you meet Nari?" Nana spoke up, her voice much softer than the other two.

"I woke up here, I stepped out of a classroom, and I just kinda... Ran into her... Next thing I know I'm hiding under a teacher's desk with her from a giant guy with a hammer."  
Ryan said quietly.

"Oh? So you just got here, you don't know what's going on?" Nana said, she had a sympathetic look in her eyes.

"I don't need an explanation, I've... read about things like this, we need to find a way out." He didn't really want to explain to them that in his world, this was nothing but a video game. It was unnecessary information at the time, and it just complicated things.

"Oh... Um... Okay..." Nana stuttered.

"Do you still have your pieces of paper?" He asked the group.

"Yeah..." Each of them muttered, as they checked their pockets.

"Keep them, once the barrier between this world, and yours is weaker, they'll be your ticket out of here." Ryan remembered the end of the game, all you had to do was chant the words 'Sachiko we beg of you' once for everyone there, and then put the paper scraps together, and they'll return to their world in the game... But that was only at the end of the game, when Shinozaki and Kishinuma had weakened the barrier, so they had to wait until that happened.

What about him? What about him and his friends, that is, if they were there. They didn't HAVE a paper scrap, so how were they getting out? He couldn't fathom how, but he knew that he could still change the story a bit, maybe save some of the characters who die in the game... He had to.

"Hey Ryan?" Nari interrupted his thought.

"What do you mean 'our' world?" Those words hit him like a brick being thrown out of a helicopter.

Had he just said something he shouldn't have?


	4. Death

Ryan panicked, it'd just make things more complicated if they knew... But what could he say? 'Oh hey, I know literally EVERYTHING about you!' No, no that wouldn't work. They looked at him, waiting for an answer. He tried not to look nervous, trying to wipe away any suspicion.

"Oh... Uh... I guess this place is getting to me... I... Plus I'm not really good at talking to... Er... Pretty girls..." Though he spoke the truth, it wasn't the real reason he was so nervous... Well the MAIN reason. This prompted Nana to smile knowingly, and Chihaya to blush deeply, hiding her face from him. He looked back at Nari, who had a look of what could almost be perceived as surprise on her face. She realized that Ryan was back to looking at her, then she immediately went into an embarrassed face, turning towards Nana.

"Oh, that's fine... Ryan, I understand!" Nana said happily, Chihaya and Nari still sitting in their own embarrassment. Nana waved her hand in front of their faces, snapping them out of it. The group was now just in awkward silence. Up until Nana spoke up.

"Well, we should get back to finding the rest of our friends!" She announced, trying to lighten the awkward mood. Everybody nodded, and started to walk away slowly. Chihaya's face was still a deep shade of red, Ryan didn't think his words would have that much of an impact on the girl, but he assumed that no one else has ever just flat out complemented her like that in front of her friends. She was taking it well compared to Nari, who looked like she was deep in thought, taking peeks at Ryan every now and then, her face a shade of pink that Ryan had never seen on the human body before.

"Ryan?" Nari spoke up. She looked up to him with big, purple glowing eyes that shouted 'look at me!'

"... Yeah?" He answered, everyone was moving in a small group, Ryan at the back, along with Nari who stood beside him.

"Did you come here with anyone?" She asked softly, knowing that if any of his friends had died here, he'd not want to even think about them.

"Yes... I... Think... I haven't seen them since right before I got here, so I don't know..." Ryan admitted, he DIDN'T know whether Austin and Maria were getting the same treatment.  
Hell, he didn't even know if this was REAL! He assumed it was a 50/50 chance of this being a coma dream. Which was bad, since when he had first got there, he was absolutely SURE that it was a coma dream.

"Who were they?" Nari asked softly. She was slowly drifting towards Ryan as they walked, seeming to not notice that her friends were right there, though not looking.

"Just two of them, besides me... Austin, dark skin, my best friend... Real joker... And then there's Maria... She's a grade below me, so that means she's only a grade above you... She's got black hair... really pale... Got... Beautiful colored eyes... I really wouldn't want to call her my friend, but... I've spent too much time with her for her to be anything else." He looked back to Nari, surprisingly, she had a tinge of jealousy on her face, but she immediately hid it.

"We'll help you find the two of them, Ryan. Don't worry!" She smiled, now practically leaning on him. She was obviously embarrassed, her face red as she slowly started to draw closer to him.

He took a step to the side, not wanting to get in her way of course! She was obviously just trying to walk a bit to the right, and he didn't want to get in her way!

Nari sighed, grumbling something inaudible as Ryan stepped to the side. Had he done something wrong yet again? My, oh my, he was just a jumble of mistakes today. He looked over to Nari, she had a hurt look on her face, as if she had just been rejected, wait... What? Was she trying to make a move on him and he just rejected her? No, no of course not. It had to be something else. Ryan DIDN'T get the girls, no matter how much Maria would gossip to Austin and Ryan about all of her friends that had super crushes on the two, he DIDN'T GET GIRLS.

"Nari, what's wrong?" He asked, both of her friends looked back, seeing their friend's face, they stopped. Nari looked a bit relieved though. She HADN'T been rejected, Ryan was just super dense!

"Oh, it's nothing!" She said, feeling relieved that she didn't actually get friend-zoned immediately. She lightened up, walking along with the group down endless halls that seemed to be repeating. They decided that they'd soon have to start checking rooms, as just searching the halls, though faster, proved to be a waste.

"You girls ready?" He asked, before getting several nods. Ryan walked slowly up to a class room door, sliding it open slowly, letting the stale air out. Along with...

"Aw, gross!" Chihaya shouted, "What IS that?" The three girls looked as if they were sick, and Ryan... He wasn't doing too much better. As soon as the odor hit him, his brain activated some internal instinct left over from evolution. The smell... He could almost name it right away... It was the smell of rotting. Of decay. The same smell that you could smell in a farm that just butchered a few animals.

And that's all that the people in Heavenly Host were to Sachiko, animals in the slaughter house line. One by one, they all fall victim. Ryan peered in the room, seeing nothing important in the room, and the only thing that stood out was the rotting body in the center.

"I'm going in!" He shouted, covering his nose, and sliding the door only enough for him to fit. He had to at least see who this was. What if it was Maria, or Austin!?

He looked at the body... Still fresh... Fresh enough that she almost looked alive...He didn't recognize this girl as any of the background characters in the game, thus it meant that this body was one of the many countless name tags that you just pick up throughout the games. He looked at the breast pocket, seeing the name tag poke out. He blinked, a tear coming to his eye. At one point this was an alive human being, with feelings, with friends, with a personality. Now she was reduced to a pile of meat on the floor. He took the student ID from the breast pocket.

Reading it out loud.

"Ayana... Misono... 17 years old, Seisei Academy for girls... It's a shame really..." He was talking to himself, yet he still got an answer, much to his surprise.

"It IS a shame..." A voice said, Ryan looked up, revealing the girl that was just sitting there... Dead... Standing up. But he looked back down, and her body was still there, and now that he got a good look at her, she was... almost transparent. The color in her clothes, skin and eyes was faded.

Ryan froze, he was looking straight into the eyes of a ghost, yet she seemed... Welcoming... Not at all bad in anyway. She was just a victim, like him...

"You... Are different, you have a distinct aura... I sensed you came here with two others, yes?"

"Y-Yeah..." Ryan said, staring at the ghost of the girl. Her blonde hair faded in the afterlife.

"You must each protect your lives... For you could very well be the key to Heavenly Host's gateway..." The ghost spoke.

"Wait... What?" He got up of the ground, for he had fallen over when he saw the ghost, the spirit didn't speak, only smiling weakly before turning into dust, being blown away by an imaginary gust of wind. He looked in shock. Slowly backing out of the room. Happy to breathe in fresher air. The girls stared at him, uncomfortably.

"What... Happened in there?" Nari asked, a confused, frightened look on her face.

"Oh..." He didn't wish to frighten the girls. "N-Noth-"

"Ryan, we heard everything, is there something you're not telling us?" Nana spoke up, a confused, yet confident look on her face.

Ryan didn't know what to say next, how could he just say the truth, when the truth was an unnecessary fact, that will only make things more complicated? He didn't have to think for a way out of this for long, because right as he was about to come up with some stupid excuse, he heard a door open behind them.

A gasp echoed through the hall. "RYAN!" A female voice shouted, he had heard that voice thousands of times before. Every day for the past two years. It was Maria's voice.

"Oh no..." Ryan grumbled, though still happy that this was most likely going to get him out of the tough situation.


	5. Search

Ryan turned slowly, seeing Maria run out of one of the rooms, she nearly tripped, stumbling and falling ONTO him. He also fell over because he was not ready for the weight. He could of swore he blacked out for a moment, seeing Maria's face millimeters away from his. Her shocked face.

She looked pretty cute as an anime girl...

Ryan shook the thought away, attempting to push her off, but realizing that she was now holding onto him tightly. Burying her face into his chest. "I thought I'd never see you again!" She cried, muffled by his sweatshirt. She sniffled, leaving Ryan awkwardly just sitting there, unsure of what to do with his hands.

He looked away from Maria to see Nari with a tinge of... Jealousy... on her face? Jealousy? She removed it from her face as soon as Ryan looked at her though, looking happy for the boy, which she was, but she wished that he'd let HER do that to him, god only knew that she wanted to. For him to protect her, and lead her out of the hell hole, her at his side the entire time. Though she couldn't think like that, as that wasn't a possibility.

There were other lives at stake here, not just hers.

Maria finally let go, but still sat on Ryan's... Pelvis... It was truly an awkward position, yet she still did it, why? Because she loved flustering the hell out've Ryan, even in dire wiggled his way out from Maria, looking up to see the others.

Nana was smiling, happy that Ryan got one of his friends back.

Chihaya was blushing, looking away from the scene out of sheer respect.

Nari had weak smile, obviously trying her best to keep it up. She looked as if she could cry, but... Nari was a big girl, she... They don't cry. That's what she kept telling herself.  
She had never had a boyfriend, and the first guy that she actually likes for his personality, and his traits is being taken by some girl she didn't know.

"Wow, Ryan... You... Made some friends..." Maria had played the game also, she knew these people, but she was ALSO smart enough to know that Ryan wouldn't tell them about them being only game characters.

"Yeah, Maria, that's... Chihaya, Nana, and Nari..." Ryan spoke. Each of the girls nodded when their names were said. "Are... You okay?" Ryan expressed worry.

"Yeah, but... Ryan?" She spoke, "Can... you check my heartbeat?" She grinned, unzipping her sweatshirt a bit, Ryan immediately stood up, looking away.

"Nope."

"Aw... You're no fun!" She laughed, before returning to reality.

"So do you know what's going on?" Ryan said quietly, turning back to her. "I mean, we're IN the game, CORPSE PARTY, Maria!" He whispered the last sentence, not wanting any of the girls to hear.

"I... I don't know, I mean... Up until now I thought it was going to be a dream..." She choked up, she didn't want die.

"It's okay, Maria... We just have to find Austin... And then get out of here." He spoke quietly, Maria standing there, scared as all hell now that she had gotten all the laughs out. Nari stood there, wishing that Ryan would turn to her, and start talking to her, to kneel down just a bit, so their heads would be level.

"I... I think we should get going... Ryan-kun..." Nana spoke, her soft voice almost disolving the awkward situation. "I DO think it's great you found one of your friends, but we should continue the search for the others!" Ryan nodded, Maria trailing behind Ryan awkwardly, scared beyond belief now that she knew it wasn't a dream.

"So... Ryan... Do you have a 'special someone'?" Nari asked, eyeing Maria in the hall.

"Er... No... I'm... Not really popular..." Ryan spoke, embarrassed. He didn't think anything of the question, but Maria knew instantly what it meant. She could have laughed, what a cute little crush! She wasn't jealous of course. She didn't LIKE Ryan. She'd say yes if he asked her out, just to see where it went, but she wasn't actively chasing him,  
if you don't count all the dirty jokes, and advancements.

She hoped that Ryan would eventually learn that the Nari girl liked him, oh, he could be so dense sometimes!

She walked away from Ryan, hoping to give room for Nari to be closer to him. She tapped Nari lightly on the shoulder. Nari turned to Maria, a confused look on her face. "Go get 'em..." Maria whispered, only loud enough for the SLIGHTLY shorter girl to hear. The shorter girl looked back at Ryan, seeing him walking alone, no longer with Maria at his side. Nari looked back at the slightly taller girl, and whispered a quick 'thank you'.

Nari stepped beside Ryan, quickly trying her best to make a move... Could she go straight to the kiss? No, no that'd be too embarrassing! Er... What else could she do?

She reached her hand out, wrapping her fingers around Ryan's larger hand. He looked over in surprise, expecting Maria to be doing it to freak him out, but was surprised to see Nari grasping his hand, looking up to him with large purple eyes. She suddenly pulled herself closer, jumping up and laying a peck on his cheek.

Ryan just kept walking, as far as he knew, no one else saw, he looked down to the girl who had just kissed him on the cheek, her face now almost glowing in the dim light that filled the hallway. He couldn't deny it now, she DEFINATELY liked him. He couldn't see why, nice girl, nice body, she could probably have any guy she wanted, why him? Was it because of him reuniting her with her friends, it had to be.

Ryan just stared, almost as if he was in shock. She nuzzled his arm, looking up to him with worried eyes, she was panicking but didn't want him to know. She was scared of being rejected by him, Ryan being the only guy she had fallen in 'love in first sight' with. She was embarrassed as all hell.

She didn't expect it, but Ryan put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer. He assumed this would be the best reaction to this, even though he didn't really know what he felt about Nari, she was cute sure, but... She was fake, right? This wasn't a dream, he knew that now, but... She was still from a video game, and... He wasn't... He decided to stop thinking about it so cynically, and just enjoy Nari's embrace.

He would protect her and her friends, not only that, but he'd protect Maria... Austin... He didn't need Ryan's help...

Nari suddenly snapped out of it, pushing away from Ryan when she heard small giggles coming from Chihaya. She looked up, seeing that her smaller friend had beein looking over her shoulder at the two.

Nari's face lit up a light shade of pink, as she tried to hide it from her friend. Nana, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't show it. Chihaya turned back around, walking closer to Nana, obviously starting to get scared once more, forgetting about the funny sight she had just seen.

"Where... Are we?" Nana spoke up, stopping the group. "We were just going in circles before, but... I haven't seen that hall before..." She pointed at a hall that lead to an opening, it was... LIGHT! There was a bright light at the end of the hall that they hadn't seen before!

"I haven't either!" Nari said.

"Neither have I..." Chihaya spoke... Maria and Ryan exchanged cautious looks, the groups slowly walked into the light. They weren't in a hallway anymore! Thank GOD.

The big room they were in seemed to be a lobby, with a door leading to what seemed to be the main building.

Ryan hadn't realized it until now, but he finally discovered where they were, they were in the second building! The one where the principals office is located, where Morishige dies...

They weren't even in the main building yet... It had been a good half an hour since he had woken up there, and he had only walked the halls of the FIRST STORY, OF THE FIRST BUILDING! He hated this, he wished to go home, he knew now that this wasn't a dream, it couldn't be! But it couldn't be real either! He was in a video game, damnit!

He didn't know, but he had to get out of it, along with Nari, Chihaya, Nana, Maria and Austin.

He stood in the light for the first time since he had gotten in the school, the lights making an audible buzzing noise as they lit up the room. For the first time, he got to see everyone in good light. Nana's eyes seeming brighter, Chihaya seeming... More... Cute... In a puppy way of course, not in the 'I'd tap that' way, she looked WAY too young. Nari... Her hair looked beautiful, her eyes glinting in the light. He already knew that she liked him, so it wouldn't be weird for him to like her back... Right?

'NO!' His logic protested. 'She's not even real! So what if she dies! So what if she likes you!' He pushed these thoughts away, logic didn't apply in this situation. HE WAS IN A VIDEO GAME, DAMNIT. LOGIC DIDN'T MATTER. He mentally slapped the logicall part of his brain in the face, scolding it for thinking such things.

"Where... Do we go from here?" Nana asked, there being several doors leading into the rest of the building, then one that leads to the main building.

"I... I... Don't know..." Nari said slowly. Looking at each possible path.


	6. Austin's Beginning

Austin started to feel his senses returning to him, his feeling in his body revealing he seemed to be lying on a bed... Did he pass out? Was he in the hospital? He assumed he had passed out on his couch, his friends bringing him to help. He kept his eyes closed, feeling oddly comfortable in his bed. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

The door to the room he was in was slowly opened. He assumed that it was the nurse, or doctor coming to check up on him. Wait, where was all of the electrical beeping? Was he in the hospital after all? Who the hell was in the room?

"Don't worry Naomi! We'll find you a place to rest your leg!" He heard a female voice echo throughout the room. "Ah, there are some beds!"

What? That sounded like... No... His friends were playing a trick on him, he was certain, but it couldn't hurt to open his eyes, and wake up.

"AH! There's already someone here!" The voice panicked, "I think he's alive!"

Austin didn't have a choice now, he opened his eyes slowly, revealing that he was in fact, not in the hospital. But the room he WAS in looked... Like the infirmary, from... The game, Corpse Party... He looked over to where to voice was... Shocked.

He couldn't believe his eyes. Was he dreaming? No, it couldn't be... It felt so real... This... He gulped, staring at the two girls standing in the room with him. They stood there, staring back. He didn't know what to say. Everything around him was... Animated, including him, and the two girls standing before him. It was like a dream, and a nightmare at the same time.

There stood in front of him, Seiko Shinohara, and Naomi Nakashima, both staring back, him being the first alive person they had ran into since getting there.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Ryan stood there, waiting for the group to decide where to go. Nari stood next to him, every once in a while looking up to him. Was she dating him now? She didn't know, but she knew that now wasn't the time for romance, no matter how much she wanted it. She looked up to Ryan, seeing him deep in thought... Was he thinking about her? She wished he'd just take one peek her way, but... It never happened, he kept looking at the others, Maria, Chihaya, Nana, but never to Nari... What was he thinking?

'How the hell am I going to protect these... Defenseless girls... All of them die in the story... Am I going to be able to change their fates?' He thought, looking down to Nari for the first time in a few minutes. Noticing her annoyed face turning into a small smile as he looked at her. He smiled back, being only a few inches taller than the girl, it seemed embarrassing, as he was a good year older than her, even though he was two grades above her. He was one of the youngest in his class, Austin being only a month or so older.

Nana seemed to be the leader, so when she picked the door to the other building, no one protested. Ryan and Maria following silently. "Nana?" Chihaya asked, breaking the silence as everyone headed for the door.

"Huh?" She responded, looking over to the smaller girl.

"I'm scared..." She complained.

"There's nothing we can do about that, we all are scared..." She said, acting like an older sister to the girl, even though they were roughly the same age. Chihaya nodded, walking a bit closer to Nana as they pushed the door open. A gust of fresh air rushed into the room. The sound of rainfall was loud. Nana stepped out into the walkway. Looking around, she saw the forest.

"There's a way out..." She said quietly.

"No... You heard the spirits right? This place is disconnected from everything else... If anything, that woods just goes on endlessly..." Nari spoke up. They must have had an encounter with a spirit before Ryan had met them, because besides the one Ryan talked to alone, they hadn't seen one.

"Yeah..." Grumbled Nana, upset. Remembering that they were stuck there unless they could find a way out more complicated than a door.

Maria silently walked along, deep in thought, Ryan assumed she was thinking about the same things as him, a way out, how could this be happening? Or just her random thoughts that only she could think up.

Probably some messed up perverted shit.

Ryan looked back at the rest of the group, noticing Nari first for some odd reason. He couldn't like her, she WAS FAKE. This was a bad situation, because even if they DID get out of there, Ryan and his friends would probably go back to their world, and Nari and hers to theirs... That sparked the question, if they got back, how could they convince people of what happened? They wouldn't be able to, it'd be their forced secret.

He sighed, the group making their way towards the opposite side of the path, entering the main building. This is where the infirmary was, yes? He wondered if he was in the same closed space as any of the main characters, he'd admit that it would be pretty cool to meet some of his favorite... Fictional... Characters... But were they fictional any more? They were real now, in this world, they. Were. Real.

His mind hurt thinking about it. The human race wasn't ready for this type of spiritual shit, let alone Maria, Austin and him. The group stopped at the door, Nana moved her hand slowly up to the door, but flinched as she touched it. "I...I'm scared too..." She said quietly. "Can someone else be first?"

Ryan sighed, he didn't want to, but he was the male among the girls, so he felt as though he should be the first one in the line. He slowed his breathing approaching the door.  
He knew what Nana meant now, as soon as you got near the door, you automatically felt a sense of dread, and despair. He inhaled, quickly grabbing the door, pushing it open as fast as possible.

Nothing. The room was lit up by a single hanging lightbulb on the cieling. It would flash every now and then, shrouding the room in darkness for only a millisecond at a time. They could either head towards the lobby, or the classrooms, or the infirmary.

He thought for a moment, was he in the same closed space as any of the main characters, definately not Naomi or Seiko, as they were cut off from everyone else up until the worlds collapsed, and they were all in the same one. He PROBABLY wasn't in Mayu, Ayumi, Yoshiki, and Ms. Yui's, since they hadn't seen any of them yet, but it wasn possible. Maybe though, he was in Yuka and Satoshi's, or Morishige's, or any of the students from Byakudan Academy. Or maybe no one else was in this closed space, and it was just the five of them alone. He hoped Austin wouldn't get caught in a closed space with Kizami, or something else, he hoped that Austin was in the right hands.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Austin froze, staring at the two girls. They looked exactly like the two girls from the game... But it couldn't be, that was fake. Austin was semi-religious, so he thought for a moment he might be in hell... Or heaven...He waved the thoughts away, he wasn't dead. He was very much alive, and this WAS going on, it wasn't a dream. He had been in very vivid dreams before, never have they been like this. He had even been knocked out before, and had an extrememly vivid dream that lasted for what seemed like hours,  
yet it wasn't as vivid as what was going on right now. He knew immediately. This was real, and he was GOING to find out what was going on.

"Are... You okay? Who are you?" One of the girls... Naomi asked slowly.

"I'm fine..." Austin said through the confusion, masking it. "And I can ask the same to you... Where am I?" Austin realized that knowing everything about the girls might make him seem... Odd, so he didn't mention their names.

"We don't really know either... A school cut off from reality..." Naomi said slowly. "Er... Sorry... I'm Nakashima Naomi." The taller girl said, they were both standing right next to the bed, Austin felt kinda... Awkward just sitting there in a bed as two anime girls just... Stared at him. He wasn't a pervert like Ryan, but... Naomi WAS kinda just shoving her bust in his face. I MEAN COME ON. She was even squeezing them together a little! Austin knew she wasn't doing it on purpose, she was just scared. The mexican looked over to Seiko, who was also looking at Austin.

"I'm Shinohara Seiko, but you can just call me Seiko!" The girl said, almost bouncing as she announced her name. Austin was mentally cursing at himself for perving out on Naomi.

"So... Um... Seiko... Nakashima... I'm..." Austin remembered the whole Japanese thing of last names first. "Rayman Austin...Both of you should just call me Austin, though." He looked around, though he still didn't know what the hell was happening, something was going on, and he needed to find out.

"You're... Not Japanese?" Naomi asked, not recognizing the name as eastern.

"Er... Nope..." he said slowly. Getting up out of the bed.

"How do you know our language, you don't look that much older than us..." Seiko spoke. It kinda surprised Austin, first, they were hearing him speak Japanese, even though he heard them speaking English. Second, they though he was older than them, even though he was only 14, 'bout to turn 15 in a few weeks. If he remembered correctly, both Naomi and Seiko were 16, almost two years older than him.

"Well... Um... I'm not really speaking Japanese..." He sid quietly.

"Wait, yeah you are, everyone here is speaking Japanese..." Naomi said, a confused look rising to her face.

"I hear everyone speaking English," Austin said, he knew this was real, there was no way it wasn't. It felt so real, but he couldn't see how this was happening. He couldn't explain it without going into religion or science, both of which Austin prefered not to think about right now. His jokester personality masked by confusion and fear.

"Oh... That's... Weird..." Naomi let out. "Where do you come from?"

"Small town in the northern United States, you?" Austin answered, stepping out of the bed. Standing before the two girls. He was taller than both of them, Seiko by about four inches, and Naomi by about two.

"Kisaragi Academy, in Japan... It's... Nice to see someone else... Did you just wake up here?" Naomi asked, sympathetic eyes.

"Er... Yeah, I'm... Not really sure what's going on, but it's nice to be greeted by two... Lovely ladies such as yourself." Austin decided to complement the fuck out of the two girls, using his 'mehican' charm as he called it, in an attempt to make the two like him enough to keep him around, at a time of confusion like this, he didn't want to be alone.

Naomi and Seiko giggled, "How old are you again?" Naomi asked through a giggle.

"Freshman year..." Austin let out. "Gonna turn 15 in a few weeks..."

"What?" A surprised Seiko let out. "You're Yuka's age! That's so cute!" She pulled him into a hug, jumping up to be eye level with him. Austin didn't fight back, he just eyed Seiko suspiciously as he hugged him. Naomi just sat down on the bed, her wounded leg was stinging her, and despite the hilarious sight of Seiko forcibly hugging the giant 9th grader.

Austin just sat there, trying to not look embarrassed, as he didn't know what to do with his arms. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew it wasn't all laughs, if this was following the game's story, then this was about the point where Naomi gets attacked by the ghost... Then after that... Seiko's death... Could he stop that from happening? He was gonna try his best though.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

'Yeah,' Ryan thought. 'Austin's probably doing just fine'

**Author's Note - Nothing much to say, just a fun fact. I've been getting all of the character's heights off the wiki so I could compare them correctly to Austin, Ryan and Maria. In doing so, I found out some interesting facts. Nana, Chihaya and Nari are all a bit taller than Naomi and Seiko, who are three/two years older than them.  
Aaaand Ryan's taller than Satoshi and about the same height as Yoshiki. **


	7. Missing

Ryan felt a small vibrate in his pocket as he walked alongside Maria. Chihiya and Nana took the front, and Nari stood awkwardly next to him, looking up at him every now and then, but looking away, fearing he would eventually catch her staring. He was, despite only being just over a year older, way taller than the girl. She hated it. She wanted to be tall, to look more... Mature... Than she did.

Compared to Maria, Ryan's... Friend... She looked like a little girl... Well... You know what I meant... She gulped, wanting to make conversation with Ryan, with anyone. Remembering that the boy next to her wasn't her focus, finding the older girls from their school WAS. Ryan didn't matter. He wasn't even from Japan... And... He was being awfully suspicious back when he talked to the ghost.

Was there something about him they had yet to find out?

Maria walked a little closer to Ryan, breathing her warm breath on the back of his neck. Causing him to, with a slightly red face, step away from her. She would have laughed at his awkwardness had she not been terribly scared. Contrary to what Ryan thought, she wasn't getting close to him because she was trying to fluster him, she was trying to get close to him because she didn't want to be alone. Ryan was the only one she knew out of the four others there.

Ryan sighed, feeling the air get drier, and drier as they walked further away from the second building. He could hear nothing but Chihiya's quiet, but panicked breathing, and the constant low thumps of people walking on old wooden boards.

He looked at Nari as the group stood still, looking for possible ways to go. The girl seemed much more mature than her actual age, both mind... And body... Ryan avoided staring at her chest. He really had to get a leash on his sexual side. Perversion was about 85% of his brain. It haunted him, every second, of every day. Like a sexy ghost. Yeah...  
Like a sexy ghost...

He gulped, turning away from her as she started to turn around. Nari saw that Ryan wasn't looking at her, slightly disappointed that the guy seemed to not be interested in her.  
But... What were the chances your crush would like you back, anyways.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Oh, it seems I have lost that precious piece of paper! I'll be right back, Naomi!" Seiko let out, checking her pockets, her skirt, and any where else on a human body a piece of paper could disappear to. She started for the door, clearing the room within a moment.

"Seiko, WAIT!" Naomi said, struggling to stand up from the bed, her leg wounded. Austin knew what he had to do. Seiko was the one in the most danger right now, he had to stay by her side, and make sure she didn't fall victim to Naomi, like in the game.

"Goddamnit..." He mumbled to himself. "I'll get her!" He said out loud towards Naomi, before running out the door. She yelled for Austin too, and yelled in frustration as he left her behind too, just like Seiko. She tried to get up, but instantly felt pain sear through her body. She whimpered, hopping back up onto the bed. She couldn't walk right now, not on that leg. She was all alone... And it terrified her. She heard the footsteps getting quieter and quieter, until... Silence.

Austin tailed Seiko, seeing her vanish around a corner, didn't she hear him chasing after her?! "Jesus..." He mumbled to himself. "SLOW THE HELL DOWN." He ordered. Jesus, this girl was faster than he thought she wou-

He ran into Seiko, who, after finding out the boy was following her, had stopped dead in her tracks. Austin felt the girl fall forward under his weight. His fall was softened by the body of the girl under him. Luckily for her, he wasn't a heavy guy. Instantly got up, realizing that he was laying on top of Seiko, his hand resting on her breast.

"I didn't think you'd have it in you, lusty boy~" Seiko joked... Or was she joking? It was hard to tell, the grin on her face was genuine, and she obviously didn't mind Austin on top of her. Yet, she WAS Seiko. She was just doing what she'd do to Yoshiki, or any other guy, for that matter. Seiko was just being a pervert. That's how she do.

"Um..." He said quietly, taking his hand off of her breast, he could tell he was blushing, but didn't care. He planted his hand on the cold, wooden floor, and pushed himself back onto his feet. "Sorry..." He said quietly, gulping and staring at Seiko as she rubbed her forehead. She grinned at Austin.

He was already changing the story, just by being there... He had to save this girl, knowing that if he doesn't do anything, she'll end up dead at the hands of her friend. He thought for a moment. How did he get into this situation? How was this even possible? It had to be... He... He wasn't dead, was he?

He realized that he had been staring into Seiko's eyes the entire time he had been thinking, giving off the wrong signal to Seiko, who grinned back, taking a step towards Austin,  
who just continued to stare. He blinked, shaking his head and looking back to Seiko. "Uh... Hi?" He said simply, stepping back away from Seiko.

"Hey..." She said back, a small grin on her face. Jesus... Well this was awkward. "I should get back to searching for my piece of paper, you should go back to Nao-"  
She tried to go back to her 'kawaii' behavior that he was used to on the game.

"Nakashima told me to accompany you, to make sure you're safe." He lied.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The group stood in the infirmary. The girls searching for their friends, Maria and Ryan searching for their one friend.

"It... Feels like someone's here... But... No one IS." Nana said simply, her voice shaking. She was standing over in the corner, near the beds. That... That was where Naomi rested. When she got attacked... Could it be, that she was there, just not in this closed space? Ryan walked up to Nana, placing a hand on the bed, where Naomi sat in the game, before she got attacked.

He felt an ice cold touch as soon as he put his hand over the bed, he yanked back, surprised. Nearly hitting Nana. "Sorry..." He mumbled to her, but she was more frightened at why he had flinched.

"Ryan-kun?" She asked worryingly.

"Yeah?" He answered, turning around and walking away from the bed, not wishing to experience that EVER again.

"What was it like... W-Where you lived?" She asked, her voice was full of fear. It was saddening to hear such a young child in such a situation, fake or not. He would get all three of these girls out of there, he swore his life on it.

"Nine months out of the year it was so cold and snowy... The other three, it's hot as hell, and sunny all day, every day." He said simply. Nana smiled, picturing it in her head. Wishing she had time in her life to visit outside of Japan, but... If she were to die in this school... Then she would have never gone outside of Japan in her entire life. It was quite sad.

Maria stared at Nari, it was so obvious that she was staring at Ryan, yet she would turn away every time he looked at her. Maria thought it was cute. Nari smiled at the taller girl when she saw her looking. "You know... Thanks... For back there..." She said, mentioning the fact that Maria had purposely let Nari walk next to Ryan in the hallway.

"No problem... He's not that hard to talk to, just go talk to 'em..." She said quietly.

"But-"

"I've been friends with him as long as I can remember, he's a good guy, talk to him." Maria cut her off.

"But-"

"Talk. To. Him." Maria demanded, a bit louder this time. Ryan looked over, barely hearing what the two were talking about. He hadn't heard the full conversation, but picked up enough bits and pieces of words to tell that they were talking about him.

"Bu-... Okay..." Nari answered, defeated she was a stubborn girl, and she hated the fact that she needed help with boy troubles. Oh, how much the other girls would laugh if they saw her now. She gulped, turning to the boy in the room.

She suddenly realized what she was doing.

She, and all of her friends were in grave danger, they were missing classmates, and she was worrying about some stranger she barely KNEW.

"No... No... I... I can't..." She whispered to herself, despite her instincts telling her to talk to him, stomping off to join Nana and Chihiya on the other side of the room, digging around for any sign that their friends had been there.


	8. Vibrations

Austin looked down at his own body once again, his sweatshirt, his jeans, his... His bare skin... It all looked VERY different in an anime style. His sweatshirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his light brown skin. He looked up at Seiko, who was crawling around on her knees, looking for the small piece of paper... Austin had realized something.

IF Seiko does not find her piece of paper, then she would not be able to return...

What about him? What about his friends, that may or may not be there?

How could they get home?

What if this wasn't real? What if he was in a coma dream, or... Or his mind broke and he's having insane delusions?

He hoped he'd just be able to wake up... Even if he DID really want to spend some time with these people.

Austin saw a small shimmer through a crack in a floorboard at his feet. He got a curious look on his face, bending over and sliding two fingers into the crack, and pinching down on the shimmering object, and pulling it back up. The entire time, he was nervous that something would grab him, not trusting the situation one bit...

This... This was... Was it really? The answer had been in the bathroom all along?

Seiko seriously couldn't find it on her own?

In Austin's hands, lay a small piece of paper, obviously Seiko's scrap.

"Hey Seik-" He started, but was cut off by a scream coming from the infirmary. He knew what was going on, he sighed, watching as Seiko sprinted out of the room. He shoved the piece of paper into his pocket. Following her out, careful not to be left behind. Who knew what could possibly happen to him if he was alone here?

The sprint wasn't far, of course, only a few twists and turns. Down barely lit, dark hallways, only lit by one of Ayumi's candles every now and then, and the bright moonlight coming in through the windows. It wasn't that hard to see, surprisingly.

He stopped, turning the corner to see Seiko standing over Naomi, who just collapsed outside of the infirmary. She had just been attacked by the ghost. Austin watched as she yelled hateful things at Seiko.

Seiko recoiled, her face looking so... Hurt... The room's atmosphere was heavy as everyone stood quiet.

"The Naomi I knew wouldn't say such things!" Seiko finally let out, her voice almost to tears. She stepped back, turning towards Austin and running past him, sobbing. He looked at Naomi, who suddenly realized her mistake.

"N-No... Seiko... Don't go..." She tried saying. "A-Aust-" She was stuttering out, before Austin turned down the hallway Seiko ran down, and following in her footsteps. He HAD to save her, he just had to.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Nana opened the door, peering in before leaning back out and closing the door. She sighed. "They're not there... We said we'd meet up there if we got lost..." She sounded disappointed, depressed almost. She turned to Chihaya, her smaller friend losing hope that they would meet up with the others from their school. Maria stood next to Ryan, looking at him.

"I still can't believe what's going on..." She spoke almost silently. Ryan didn't know whether she was talking to herself, or talking to him.

"This makes me doubt all of science class..." He replied, trying to lighten the mood. She turned to him.

"Say Ryan... Do you believe in a god...?" She started to ask.

"I mean, um..." Ryan was always touchy on the subject, as things like religion differences often created rifts between friends. "I'd like to, and this situation makes things like that seem normal... But I don't really know." He answered slowly. He was Agnostic, but often was spiritual. He stood there awkwardly as Maria shifted.

"I'm... Sorry... I shouldn't have brang it up, it's just... There's so much I don't know about you guys..." She said, going quiet. "I hope Austin's alright." Her voice was soft, and full of paranoia and nervousness. Ryan looked down, it was fully possible that Austin was dead. Killed in some horrible, cruel way. He didn't want to think about that. He COULDN'T think about that. Austin was one of his last friends.

"He is, he is. I'm... I'm sure of it." Ryan looked up at Maria. She had gotten the type to properly assess the situation, and in doing so, she realized how bad this could end. How bad it could already be.

Ryan moved his medium length, dirty blonde hair out of his eyes, looking at Maria in the dim light. "It will be okay." He reassured her, though, he hadn't even been able to reassure himself as of yet. He watched as the girls comforted each other on the other side of the room. Chihaya was in tears. Nari and Nana standing near her. Nana gave her a hug, trying her best to comfort her.

Ryan turned back to Maria, "We gotta get them out of here at least. Before you say anything about them not being real, well, none of THIS is supposed to be real, but it IS, so we have to ge-"

"I agree." The female said quietly. "Unless I'm dreaming, this is real, and they are real, we should do what we can to keep them from gettng ki-" She stopped talking. Nana, Chihaya and Nari stepping into the conversation, Chihaya sniffling, finally able to calm herself.

"We gotta keep moving... Ryan-kun, Maria-chan." Nana said, formally. "Our, and your friends will be around here somewh-" She was cut off, the ground suddenly shaking violently.  
Maria grabbing onto Ryan, the closest person to her at the time. Ryan was flung back by the weight, coupled with the violent shaking. Maria on top of him. She quickly scrambled off of him, clearly embarrassed.

As Ryan was picking himself up, Chihaya backed up, trying to find a wall, to lean on. Ryan saw it coming. A large hole right behind the young girl.

He quickly picked himself up, yelling for the girl to stand still, but eventually she went too far, not able to hear him over the rumbling. She started falling, gasping, then screaming.

Ryan wasn't about to let that happen. He reached out, grabbing Chihaya on the wrist as she squeaked. He quickly pulled her up, sighing and flopping back down on the floor, she was on her hands and knees. Shaken from what had just happened. She looked at her wrist, rubbing it, as all of her weight suddenly had been pulled onto that one spot.

She sniffled once more, looking at Ryan. He had... Saved her.

As the earthquake settled, the others looked over to see Chihaya sobbing, clutching Ryan as he sighed in relief.

"I... I could have died..." She managed to squeak out, her face red beyond belief.

Ryan just sat there, staring at the ceiling. Fading out. A sick feeling in his stomach. He felt as though he was about to pass out, alas, before he did end up passing out, he had one question on his mind.

Who was whispering in his ear?


End file.
